Monday, February 21, 2011

My Sweet Girl's Surgery

 The night before her surgery, Kait was very nervous.  She actually asked her Daddy if it's okay to be afraid to die.  Dan and her sat on the couch for a little bit and read her Bible.  I had to capture the sweet moment.


 Kaitlyn had a good night sleep.  She jumped in the tub when she got up in the morning and we got her all fresh and clean for her big day.  She chose to take her unicorn and princess blanket along with her to the hospital.  On the drive there, she said that her belly felt very nervous...and so did Mommy's.

 Once we arrived at 7 AM, the took us right back and we got her all gowned up and ready to go.  She liked her hospital gown with the stars on it.  Once the nurse checked her all out and asked a bunch of questions, she let Kaitlyn pick a blanket out to keep for herself.  She thought that was great.

 The anesthesiologist came in and gave her something to calm her nerves about a half hour before they took her away.  I could tell that it made a difference.  She really liked the special hat they gave her and actually has put it on here at home a few times...until Zoey got a hold of it this morning and ripped it up. :-(

 Dan's Mom was able to come up and be with us.  It was so nice to have her there...especially when they wheeled Kaitlyn away.  Having her company was great.  It kept my mind off of things and before I knew it, they were calling me back to talk with the doctor after her surgery was done.  He said that her tonsils and adenoids were quite large and he would be very surprised if she was able to breathe out of her nose for any period of time.  One nurse came out of the recovery room to tell me what a sweet girl she was...how she was so polite and cute.  They had a little fun with her unicorn and dressed it up while Kait was in surgery.

 I shot this right after Kaitlyn was wheeled out of the recovery room.  She had tears running down her cheeks and was in so much pain.  It was hard to see her like that...I just wanted to take her place.

After she woke up a bit and got some Tylenol for pain, she kept asking in a whisper to go home and lay on the couch.  She did super and we were out of there three hours after her surgery started.

On the way home, we made a little stop at Burger King for a cherry icee.  She was very talkative and I thought that recovery for her would be a breeze.  She was rating her pain as a one or a two and said she felt good.  Once we got home, she downed two bowls of applesauce and a couple of popsicles.

Around dinner time is when things went down hill.  She threw up, which had her in incredible pain.  It was the most helpless I have ever felt.  I sat there and held her hair while I prayed for her.  After she was done, she was a mess.  She was in pain and couldn't swallow or talk.  We got her medicine down and then she fell asleep.  I slept next to her and set an alarm so we could stay on top of the pain and not miss a dose of meds.  It was a long night because she was so uncomfortable.  I questioned our decision to have her tonsils out and wondered if we did the right thing for her.

Saturday afternoon, it was nice out, so I bundled her up, put a mask on her, and took her in the jogger for a stroll around the block.  She loved being outside.  She still could not talk and went through an entire notebook that day writing us notes to tell us what she wanted and how she was feeling...along with a few random facts that made Dan and I smile.  She seemed to be doing a bit better and I was praying she would get some much needed rest that night.  I made a bed up in our room on our floor because she didn't want to be away from us.  She slept like a rock and I felt like she was on the up swing.

Sunday morning, she woke up and wanted her cousin to come for a visit.  So, I brought her home with me after church and it's just what Kaitlyn needed.  She perked right up and we played games and did nails.  She even wanted to come with me when we took her cousin back home.  The day wore her out and she was zonked out within a half hour of being home.  I woke her for her meds and she went back to sleep until this morning.

She is doing pretty good today.  She has talked a couple of times and she has gotten more liquids in her belly than she has since she threw up on Friday night.  She saw a McDonald's commercial and her eyes lit up.  She wrote that she could probably eat McDonald's right now...applesauce, jello, and ice cream will have to do for now.

She will be off of school for pretty much the rest of the week.  We are going to get her all cleaned up and freshened up today.  She is also begging to go visit grandpa...she is missing him.

1 things to add:

Rebecca said...

Your account of Kait's surgery is so precious! I appreciate your vulnerability when you shared that you questioned your decision to actually do it. I remember after Tatiana got her ears pierced, she was so miserable and crying and didn't even want to see them in the mirror; I felt like the world's worst mom & that wasn't even something medical! At least you only had to endure a very short hospital stay....I spent 5 days & nights in the hospital with Tati's appendectomy, the longest stay either one of us has ever had!